Hiya, I'm Kelly, join me each week as I share with you my views on beauty, fashion and lifestyle choices.

Wednesday, 26 November 2014

My Shopaholic Update

As previously stated, in this series I will be updating once a week, about how I have found that week. However, I may also throw in a couple extra posts when I'm finding it extra tough or when I've found some useful tips. Today I though it would look into the past and see where my spending stems from. As an only child, I know I was spoilt. I had about thirty Barbie dolls, countless cars and even a playhouse in the back garden. As I left school, I managed to secure a job almost straight away, working in a shop. I was to be an apprentice and although the £95.00 a week doesn't seem that much now, I remember at the time it felt like I had won the lottery. After paying my rent and phone I had on average about £60.00 a week to myself. I knew I wanted to save some money, so that if I saw something a bit more expensive I might be able to treat myself and if not I could always use the money on birthday and Christmas presents. When my apprentice finished, I was offered a full time position working at minimum wage. For me this was better still, having roughly £100 more a week I could save some more money. However, this was to be the start of my problems. I worked with two girls that were about eight years older than me and my boss was also female. They were addicted to marks and spencer shoes, buying lush bath bombs on a regular basis and using Clinique skin care products. I wanted to try these products and so I bought some classic comfy heels from M & S, bought all the bath bombs in the Christmas range and lush and bought my first Clinique starter kit. All this cost me my extra £100 nearly and I had saved nothing.One day my boss came in with a magazine for me and one of the other girls as a treat. It was a baking magazine, showing you how to perfect your cakes and decorate them to a high standard. I thought they looked lovely and wanted to try and make them. I knew I didn't have the patients but I thought this could be there new me. Two years and 89 magazines later, I have only made a cake out of the first magazine and have hundreds of utensils that I will probably never use. With my proper wage, I was then able to get an adult account and so went to my local bank and set up a new account. Here was another downfall ... my new account meant that I could shop online, something my previous account wouldn't allow me to do. I found myself always looking online for clothes and accessories and soon it became a weekly habit. I had parcels arriving every week and my family were warning me to be careful but I didn't see a problem. Then suddenly, out of the blue, my boss tells me she has sold the business and that I am to have a new boss. They instantly make one of the girls redundant and I am left fearing for my job. However, to keep me, they adjust my wage slightly.. a pay rise! I couldn't believe my luck. At the age of 19 I was earning the same amount as the girl nearly double my age was. However with the girl I used to work with everyday now gone, my days were lonely and dragged. I would thing of all the things I would like to buy when I got home and found that by the time 5 o'clock arrived I had to buy them. A few months later, my bosses knew I wasn't happy in my work and rather than get someone else in to share my workload, they gave me another pay rise to keep me happy. I have since had another pay rise so that I am once again above minimum wage. Last Christmas, I bought expensive gifts for everyone... because I could. A camera for my boyfriend, £150 between mum and dad, £20 each for my friends. It soon added up and by January this year, I had no savings and no money. But I still didn't see that I had a problem. My monthly £40 shopping sprees in Primark weren't harming anyone... Until recently.I still leave at home and my room has become a dumping ground. I've bought all these new clothes, but I can never wear them because I can't bear to fight my way to my wardrobes... and yes I have three. My chest of draws are never to be opened for fear of them not closing again. But the real problem was my make up addiction. I had become obsessed from the like of FleurDeForce and other Youtubers and saw that they had made money by doing what they do. This let me to set up my first blog, where I was hoping to review products, share ideas and generally just have a bit of fun. I found a company called Glossybox that for a subscription fee send you a monthly box with five beauty goodies as well as maybe the odd voucher code. All you then had to do was complete a survey online about each product... simpleHowever it has now been over a year since I took out the subscription and I have been obsessed with buying new products ever since. I wouldn't even bat an eyelid when, a few weeks ago, I spent £60 in five minutes in boots - That used to be my whole weeks money. For the last four or five months my glossybox's have been coming but I haven't felt excited about them. My room has beauty samples everywhere!This is how I got to where I am today. Looking back I can see exactly where I went off the rails and now know what I need to do to put it right. For me at the moment, my hard earned money is just being spend on anything and everything and it shouldn't be like that. If I want something, I should save a little each week and if I still want it then, I know I have saved to buy it and I will appreciate it more.